Climbers Set New Speed Record on The Nose in Yosemite

Two climbers have set a new speed record for climbing the most iconic route on El Capitan in Yosemite. This past weekend, Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds took on The Nose, and managed to put up an impressive new time for the 2900-foot (884 meter) rock face, completing the ascent in a blistering pace and finishing in just 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds. That is a full 4 minutes faster than the previous record held by Alex Honnold and Hans Florine.

The duo used a mix of both free climbing and aid climbing to make the ascent, preferring to go without safety equipment on the easier pitches, but employing it where they felt its was most needed. The climb took place on Saturday, with Gobright and Reynolds overcoming the 31 pitches in the fastest time yet.

About a decade or so ago there were a number of attempts to set new speed records on The Nose, with the mark being lowered four times in 2007 and 2008 alone. Honnold and Florine set their record back in 2012 however, taking nearly 13 minutes off the previous fastest time. That is where the bar has stayed until this past weekend, when Gobright and Reynolds were able to take it even lower still. Whether or not anyone will step up to challenge their pace in the near future remains to be seen.

You can read more about the climb and new record at Climbing.com. And while you’re at it, check out the awesome video from the ascent too.

The Nose Speed Record :: 2:19:44 from Tristan Greszko on Vimeo.

Author
Recent Posts

Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.